The university's school of pharmacy will work with six others in the state to establish the Partners in D program, which will train student pharmacists to educate other healthcare providers about the Medicare drug benefit.

The newly trained corps will then work in communities, giving seniors one-on-one assistance registering for one of the 70 plans that administer Part D in California.

The program will leverage the talents of student pharmacists with diverse backgrounds and language skills to focus particularly on seniors from underserved communities, with low incomes, and those who speak and read little or no English, the university said.

Partners in D began as a pilot program in October 2005, but the Amgen Foundation's grant allows for the program to expand in scope and extend statewide.